13 February 2012

TANZANIA : ABC stretch winning run with Oilers triumph

Dar es Salaam. ABC stretched their winning run in the RBA League with a deserved 64-53 victory over Oilers on Saturday.

The big match played at the National Indoor Stadium, saw Oilers start brightly, but paid the price for missing a host of scoring chances in the first two quarters. ABC, led by the likes of Juma Kisocky and Filbert Mwaipungu took a 15-10 lead in the first quarter, leaving their dominant rivals frustrated.
Oilers returned to the second quarter stronger, stretching ABC stars to record a deserved 17-10 win.The losers walked off the court for the breather smiling with a 27-23 lead.Sensing the danger of a humbling defeat, ABC heeded pieces of advice from coach Leonard Kwale and dominated the third quarter (20-15).
Shocked by ABC’s comeback, Oilers started the fourth quarter pressing forward, but the former were too good to contain them.
The army team won the fourth quarter 19-14 to stake their claim in the title race. Kisocky emerged the best scorer with 18 points followed by Mwaipungu with 15 while Oilers’ Lusajo Samuel notched 14.
Speaking after the game, a visibly overjoyed Kwale showered praise on his players, but also expressed his respect for Oilers. “My players performed well once again against spirited opponents. Oilers have experienced and talented players and are the team to beat in the ongoing league,” he said.
Oilers coach Henry Mwinuka conceded the defeat, but pointed out that they deserved to win had it not been for his players to squander chances.
“We lost to a better team, but we had our chances which we fluffed. Had my forwards been precise up front, we could have bagged the two points at stake,” he said. (By Brown Msyani)